A short while ago, I received an email from MBNA, to advise that they no longer request you let them know when you will be out of the country. I'm guessing this is across the board - but has anyone experienced any problems using their card abroad since not advising MBNA of foreign travel?

I just had a quick look at the MBNA site - there did used to be a drop down you could use to let them know of travel plans - and that seems to have disappeared. Unless it's deeply buried somewhere...

Not had any issues at all both in the US and Europe since the change. You also used to be able to text them as well.

The FAQ now states

You no longer need to let us know when you are travelling abroad. Your credit card will continue to work in most countries whilst you are outside the UK. We are always on the look out for unusual or suspicious transaction activity and will contact you if we need to check anything.

Given the 2.99% non-sterling transaction fee, I'd suggest you would usually be better off using a different card abroad anyway except if you were still working towards a signup bonus or needed the extra spend to meet an upgrade voucher.

tvr_p wrote:Given the 2.99% non-sterling transaction fee, I'd suggest you would usually be better off using a different card abroad anyway except if you were still working towards a signup bonus or needed the extra spend to meet an upgrade voucher.

I'll second that one. Now only use Halifax Clarity card which carries no transaction fee.

Supercard "forwards" the transaction to your other Visa/MasterCard but they do the FX transaction but your underlying card still earns points/miles/cashback.

Revolut you have to load (which you can do with Visa/MasterCard for 1%) or debit card for free - possible upside to Revolut is that you can do spot exchange between GBP/USD/EUR so you can "load" up on USD/EUR and lock in a rate.

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